Hair salons, nail salons, and spas remain closed during our stay-at-home orders. But that doesn’t mean you can’t pamper yourself! Sit back, relax, and try one (or all!) of the below for a stay at home salon and spa day.
Hair:
Many of us style our hair every day whether with a hair dryer, flat iron, curling iron, gel, hairspray, or any number of other products which can lead to dry, damaged hair. Why not give your hair a refresh with a fortifying hair mask? We recommend Hask Conditioner Masks or Fructis Treat Masks. Or for a DIY conditioning and repairing hair mask, try mixing 1 avocado, 1 egg, and 1 tablespoon each of coconut oil and honey. Apply evenly to hair and leave on for 15-20 min before rinsing.
Roots growing out? Bartell’s carries a large range of at-home hair dyes. For permanent color, try L’Oréal Paris Excellence Creme. Or, since we’re not leaving the house much, why not try something different? Never been a redhead? Always wondered what you’d look like as a brunette? For non-committing color, try Clairol Natural Instincts which lasts for approximately 28 shampoos. (However, these can permanently stain if you have naturally light hair and pick a shade drastically different to your natural color.)
If you’re really looking to change things up, why not go for an at-home dip dye of hot pink, purple, blue, or dip different strands into different colors for rainbow ends! Shock your coworkers on your next video conference with washout colors from L’Oréal Colorista that last for 4-10 shampoos.
The kids can have fun, too, with fully washable hair chalk. They can color strands of their own hair, their siblings’, or yours! Have them throw their hair into a ponytail and draw hearts, stars, and smiley faces on their head!
Face:
If you normally wear makeup, your face is probably already thanking you for going au natural, but now is a great time to give it an extra replenishing boost. We all have different skin types, so it’s important to know which type of mask would be most beneficial to you. Is your skin dry? Oily? Combination? Acne-prone? There are so many different masks that target different skin types. We recommend Naturally UC Sheet Masks or Pacifica Face Masks.
You can also make your own masks with ingredients you have at home! (Or from your next grocery order.) For dry skin, try mixing 1 avocado, 2 tbsp plain yogurt, and 1 tbsp each of olive oil and honey. For oily skin, mix ½ cup cooked (cooled) oatmeal, 1 egg, and 1 tbsp lemon juice. To help eliminate blemishes, mix ½ cup pureed butternut squash, 1tbsp honey, and 2 drops of tea-tree oil. And don’t forget to slice up some cucumber to put over your eyes! Cucumber helps alleviate inflammation and dark under eye circles. Cooled off damp chamomile tea bags work just as well!
Skin:
We’re finally coming out of that harsh winter weather (yay!) that has left many of us with dry skin (boo.) There are so many great lotions and oils to help combat this, but a few of our favorites are Burt’s Bees Milk and Honey Lotion and Alba Botanica Hawaiian Cocoa Butter Body Lotion.
For a real deep skin conditioner, you can use any straight food grade oil. Food grade oils are the ones we would normally cook with. Coconut oil and olive oil both work wonderfully. Just make sure you are able to stand around without clothes on for a while, as the oil can stain your clothes. Or, if putting on just before bed, it may be a good idea to sleep on a towel just in case any of the oil seeps into the bedsheets.
If you’re a coffee drinker, save those coffee grounds to make a DIY body scrub. Mix ½ cup of used coffee grounds, ½ cup brown sugar, and ½ cup coconut oil together. Rub the mixture into your skin and leave on for a few minutes before rinsing. The sugar and coffee grounds make for a great exfoliant helping to scrub away dead skin cells, and the caffeine in the coffee grounds is great for boosting circulation.
Another great way to relax is with a nice hot bath. Dissolve some bath salts with your favorite scent from Prep Your Skin or take a bath with Epsom salt to help relive muscle aches. Or kill two birds with one stone with Dr. Teal’s Scented Pure Epsom Salt in Lavender, Eucalyptus & Spearmint, Coconut, or Ginger.
Nails:
It’s always fun to go get your nails done at the salon, but there’s no reason you can’t have a quality manicure at home. Start with cleaning your nails off from any leftover polish. Clip your nails to your desired length, and file down the edges with a nail file. If you’re someone that has ridges in your nails, you can also use a nail buffer to smooth the lines down. Use a cuticle cream like Burts Bees Lemon Cuticle Cream to sooth cuticles and hangnails. If you’d like, you can add a base coat to help the nail color stay on longer, but it isn’t necessary. Paint your first layer of color and give it a few minutes to dry, then paint a second layer for even color. Bartell’s carries a wide range of nail polish. For a big burst of color, a few of our favorites are Sinful Nail Enamel in Ice Dream, Revlon Nail Enamel in Fearless, and Sally Hansen Miracle Get Nail Polish in Tipsy Gypsy. Finish it off with a topcoat to protect the color from chipping. And, as an extra bonus, once your nails are dry, massage some lotion into your hands – we can all relate to having dry hands from all that extra hand washing!
Change up from the standard same color on all 10 fingers by painting one nail (usually the ring finger) with a different color as an accent nail. Or, pull out any number of colors you might have stored away and go nuts! If you have the patience, why not grab a toothpick and try drawing a few designs? Pro tip: make sure your color is completely dry before adding any type of design on top – it makes it easier for a quick swipe-off if you make a small mistake. If you love the idea of designs but the inner-artist isn’t calling out to you, you can try out a nail art kit with nail stickers like Kiss Salon Secrets Nail Art Starter Kit.
Try having a spa day with your friends over video chat! Throw in some bubbles and orange juice to your next grocery order and whip up a mimosa or two while having a video nail salon party or pour yourself a nice coffee or tea and have a group chat while wearing your homemade facial masks. We live in an interesting time, to be sure, but we are very lucky that with the internet we have creative ways to stay connected with our family and friends. And though many of us feel that now is the time to get all of those “extra projects” done, remember to take the time to focus on yourself, your health, and your mental well-being. From our Bartell’s family to yours, we wish you all the health and happiness, and a wonderful stay-at-home spa day. Stay safe out there!